New York Times Reporters Talk About Seeking Comment

Some might say reporters with The New York Times aren’t prone to understatement, but Mike Isaac may be the exception.

During a recent Q&A, the long-time tech reporter said about journalists, “We can be annoying! Even alarming or abrupt.”

How about infuriating, intrusive and insensitive? At least that’s what some executives and their public relations advisors think.

That reaction comes from the conflict that’s central to the news business. Reporters want information that people can’t or don’t want to give. On the other side of the coin: PR people want reporters to write what will make their organizations look good.

Often the exchange of information is smooth, but sometimes it’s contentious as reporters push hard for answers.

“Seeking comment” was the subject of the Q&A conducted by Mike Abrams, the Times deputy editor of trust, a position created in December to explain the work of the giant news organization.

Answering Abrams’ questions were Pui-Wing Tam, a deputy business editor who leads the newspaper’s tech coverage, and two of her reporters, Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel. Their conversation offers a rare glimpse into journalists’ thinking and valuable lessons for public relations people.

1. It’s about accuracy. Tam said: “We always want to reach out — even to people who we think will not respond — because we don’t want to surprise anybody and we want to fact check for accuracy. We want to give subjects of our stories a fair chance to comment, add their perspective and correct anything that might be wrong.”

Journalists hate making corrections. You can disagree with a story’s conclusions or point of view, but reporters want to get the facts straight.

As Abrams wrote in his introduction. “It’s a tenet of independent journalism. Always offer the people you’re writing about a chance to provide comment. It’s fundamentally about accuracy.”

This is common ground for reporters on one side and sources and public relations people on the other.

Tip: At the first contact with a reporter, offer to help fact-check the story on background even if you cannot comment on the record. This offer will have credibility if you can back up your corrections or if the reporter trusts you based on past dealings.

When I was a reporter, a veteran PR person once corrected some of my facts, saying, “Nobody benefits from an inaccurate story.”

2. Ask for no surprises. “I wish people knew how hard we work to not just get a comment, but to have a thorough no-surprises process so that the subjects of our stories aren’t caught unaware by anything post-publication,” Frenkel said. “I have had company spokespeople privately tell me how thankful they are to get my no-surprises emails, only to have executives from that same company slam me on social media for my story.”

Hah!

Journalists’ obligation to seek comment is part of what is sometimes called the “No Surprises Rule.”

Tip: Under deadline, reporters sometimes forget the rule. Remind them by promising to do your best to give them a response to every point in the story that affects the organization. This promise is much more effective if you can actually respond.

3. Answer the questions. “One game companies like to play is to send a wall of words that have nothing to do with the subject of the story, then complain when we didn’t put some or all of it in the piece,” Isaac said. “I usually tell them it would be better to engage directly than try to redirect attention from the story’s central claims.”

By issuing a “wall of words,” the organization has just a small presence in the story. Its perspective and comments on the subject of the story are missing.

Tip: Start with what the reporter wants to know. Give the reporter that (or as much as you can), then work toward what you want the reporter to add. It’s an approach described by crisis communications expert James F. Haggerty’s book, “In The Court of Public Opinion,” revised in 2022.

4. Talk off the record.  “Some of the larger tech companies we deal with will offer to speak with us off the record, or on background, to give information or nuance on an issue we are reporting,” Frenkel said. “These types of conversations are often a jumping-off point for us to do more reporting.”

Isaac added, “The stories go where the reporting leads us, including what we hear when we request a comment.”

Tip: In a phone call, review written statements or answers to questions with the reporter. Have you answered their questions? Is there more information you can provide? Can you explain why you can’t provide some information?

Talking to a reporter off the record is not to be done casually, but “anonymity can be a highly effective way to shape a story,” as we’ve written.

5. Get more time to respond. “We have seen tech companies front-run stories when The Times reached out for comment,” Tam said, recalling a 2018 incident in which Facebook issued a statement about a high-profile story before it was published.

Isaac added, “Early on in my career, I realized how dangerous it can be for your story to go for comment too soon.”

While he’s still reporting, some companies “start sending out scary emails to employees to get them to clam up” or give the story to another news outlet, he said.

PR and organizations that pull these tricks quickly develop reputations. As a result, reporters will give them sufficient time to respond to a story in their subjective opinion but no more.

About Facebook, Tam admits, “We go to the company for comment each and every time, but are sometimes concerned it will pull the same move with sensitive stories.”

Tip: Treat news outlets fairly to get as much time as you can to respond. Check in with reporters in between stories to see if you can help.

Rekindle the “relations” part of public relations, which has been lost in recent years amid an atmosphere of distrust.

Due diligence
The Q&A reflects a common attitude among journalists about seeking comment, especially when the subject is unlikely to respond. It’s an exercise in due diligence, looking for information that contradicts or confirms what the reporter thinks.

And reporters take a perverse satisfaction in pushing hard for a comment even if chances for a response seem small.

“And you never know,” Tam said. “People can always surprise you by calling back and providing guidance on an issue.”

Tom Corfman knows both sides of “No comment.” Before joining Ragan Consulting Group, he was a reporter and editor for 25 years, including with Chicago Tribune and Crain’s Chicago Business.

Want to learn more about our Build Better Writers program of workshops and one-on-one coaching and editing? Email Tom to set up a free call with RCG partner Jim Ylisela.

Follow RCG on LinkedIn and subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.